What makes a highlight, a highlight?

[Cesar Rodriguez]

Like I'm sure everyone I have been watching loads of sporting highlights and classic matches over the past month or so.... In my boredom I started thinking about what constitutes a highlight passage of play? In other words what types of play warrants putting on a highlight reel and what is that per each sport? I'll throw rugby up, by all means chip in:

1st class highlight play = length of the field tries that originate inside the 22 and involve multiple passes (say, 6+) with perhaps even a regathered kick thrown in. Crucially the try is even better when the move looks to be dying but is kept alive by an offload and some fine support running.

2nd class highlight play = Similar to above but normally more short range. A try involving a dummy, offload, amazing side step or kick that is regathered. Basically a try that involves some good backline moves, usually off a set piece.

Honourable mentions = touchline conversion, any drop goal and any goal kick from long range. Also, try savings tackles and big tackles in general. Lastly, a touch finding kick that gives a team an enormous territorial gain. This might be my favourite skill in rugby - the ability to welly a kick 60 yards down the pitch whilst ensuring that it bounces just 3 inches inside the touchline, a feat of power and finesse.

[fatbear]

Spoken like a man who never played as a forward ! A scrum win against the head, or a particularly effective rolling maul, or maybe a mass brawl !!

[Cesar Rodriguez]

Spoken like a man who never played as a forward ! A scrum win against the head, or a particularly effective rolling maul, or maybe a mass brawl !!

Hah! Yeah, I did overlook forward play that's for sure, you're right on all three counts. Also, I guess you could throw in a stolen lineout, they can be pretty influential in the outcome of a match.

[tee rex]

Easy highlights: Golf. The sport is a series of strokes, so you show a hundred of them instead of thousands that happen in a day.

Difficult (or unfair) highlights: Cricket. A maiden over could swing the game, a spell of them even more so, but will rarely be shown. Hardest of all on the dogged tail-ender who survives an hour for next to no runs, making a vital contribution that is barely seen.

Silly highlights: Marathons, triathlons and other long races. "And we pick it up at the 25km mark", leader was on camera for 5 minutes, has now disappeared, no idea what happened.

[fatbear]

Not quite highlights, but in the early 90s Screensport would show just the action from an NFL match without the breaks ie just when the ball was in play. I think it lasted an hour and a half rather than 3 to 4 hours.

[fatbear]

Hah! Yeah, I did overlook forward play that's for sure, you're right on all three counts. Also, I guess you could throw in a stolen lineout, they can be pretty influential in the outcome of a match.

Indeed, in one match I went to this year, the decisive moment was the last play, an attacking line-out on the opposition five metre line, but they stole the line-out, kicked the ball off and won the match by 4 points. The Lock who won the line-out was considered to be the man of the match despite everything else that had gone on in the rest of the game.

[Kevin S]

Silly highlights: Marathons, triathlons and other long races. "And we pick it up at the 25km mark", leader was on camera for 5 minutes, has now disappeared, no idea what happened.

The Channel 4 / ITV team doing Le Tour normally get this right. The show's presenter will do a post hoc summary of the main action from the first 150km or whatever, showing the départ, the réel, the attacks and the break, the dropped riders, the intermediate points etc. He'll tell you what happened and then summarise where things stand as he 'hands over', as it were, to the commentators. That's where you get as-it-happened commentary of the decisive action in the business end of the race.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Rugby - watch a Christian Cullen highlights reel.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Not quite highlights, but in the early 90s Screensport would show just the action from an NFL match without the breaks ie just when the ball was in play. I think it lasted an hour and a half rather than 3 to 4 hours.

Given the ball's only in play for about 20 minutes they were still padding like mad, then. Lots of replays?

[fatbear]

Perhaps incorrect use of "ball in play" ? I thought the clock runs for 60 minutes although actual play is alot less. So they showed that plus replays

[Satchmo Distel]

Football highlights are often deceptive because you can't show how possession gradually wears down the opposition. Ditto rugby I'd have thought.

[Ray de Galles]

I spent months perusing the channel guide bemoaning to myself how crass Sky Sports were in listing, for example, 'Bristol City v Blackburn Hits' or 'England v West Indies Third Test Day One Hits' before I realised they had abbreviated highlights to "Hlts.

Nothing to do with this thread, I've just been wanting to confess for a while.

[Sits]

I remember when NFL got its first UK exposure during the Joe Montana/Laurence Taylor etc. era, I was totally bowled over by how long the Super Bowl was (the first game I’d watched in real time). To be honest I was bored.

[fatbear]

Football highlights can make a game look quite exciting whereas the whole match was awful to watch

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Easy highlights: Golf. The sport is a series of strokes, so you show a hundred of them instead of thousands that happen in a day.

I can't think of many major championships that don't boil down to six, maybe seven moments where someone makes a crucial shot, or someone else fluffs one. Ryder Cups are a bit different, because in a tight contest there are 28 mini-contests that each have big moments. But in a major, yeah, one guy does two or three great things and wins, three or four other guys miss a shot or two and don't. I could probably produce a narrated highlights film of every Open since 1970 that wouldn't go over three hours in total.

[ursus arctos]

Active play in the NFL is about 11 minutes on average

https://qz.com/150577/an-average-nfl...nutes-of-play/

[San Bernardhinault]

The irony about golf is that if someone's playing well, it doesn't produce highlights - Long drive down the middle. Fairway shot to about 12 feet. 12 foot putt goes just misses. Tap in. Sometimes 12 foot putt is sunk. No drama.

Highlights involve people chipping in from bunkers, recovery shots out of downhill lies in thick rough, flying the ball through a tiny gap in the trees - all places that someone playing well wouldn't be in the first place.

[Cal Alamein]

I remember when NFL got its first UK exposure during the Joe Montana/Laurence Taylor etc. era, I was totally bowled over by how long the Super Bowl was (the first game I’d watched in real time). To be honest I was bored.

I remember seeing an NFL game on tv in London. They edited it from the offense leaving the huddle to a few seconds after the refs whistled the play dead. They would include replays of big plays. The entire game was around 30-40 minutes if I remember correctly.

[lambers]

I remember seeing an NFL game on tv in London. They edited it from the offense leaving the huddle to a few seconds after the refs whistled the play dead. They would include replays of big plays. The entire game was around 30-40 minutes if I remember correctly.

The NFL Gamepass* has a 'Game in 40' option that is released less than 24 hours after every game, which is cut together exactly like this. Very useful when I'm time poor and trying to catch up on multiple games, but has the disadvantage of losing all the pre-snap looks/adjustments etc.

They also have a complete broadcast version with all the adverts cut out but all the in-game analysis left in, which usually puts each game around two hours rather than the three and bit with adverts in.


*Essentially Netflix specifically for NFL, for those who haven't heard of it.

[Incandenza]

During Euro 2004, I was done with grad school for the year and had time on my hands, so I bought the entire pay per view package (we didn't get Euros on regular TV in the US until 2008). This was pre-YouTube and there wasn't really a way to watch the games on the internet, so I made highlights packages on VHS tapes for matt j and also I think SoccerScrimmage using my TiVo recordings. It was run playing highlights director, deciding how far back to start play leading toward a goal, and also deciding to throw them off by including misses and other notable incidents. I think the highlights for the Holland-Czech Republic game ended up like 15 minutes long.

[Cesar Rodriguez]

Indeed, in one match I went to this year, the decisive moment was the last play, an attacking line-out on the opposition five metre line, but they stole the line-out, kicked the ball off and won the match by 4 points. The Lock who won the line-out was considered to be the man of the match despite everything else that had gone on in the rest of the game.

The heterogeneous and multi faceted nature of the game is what makes rugby so great imo. There are just so many ways a game can be won and lost and that in turn generates lots of interesting post match discussion and analysis.

The other thing I really love about rugby is when you recognise the opportunity for scoring a try..... When you see its on, an overlap or a 3 on 2 or a counterattack the sense of anticipation is awesome. Everything hinges on the right pass being made to the right player at the exact time and location to ensure he can take it in stride without slowing down.

[fatbear]

Watching my team the anticipation is usually dread and hoping the ball is dropped !

[Wouter D]

I think the highlights for the Holland-Czech Republic game ended up like 15 minutes long.

Ugh, Paul Bosvelt...

[matt j]

During Euro 2004, I was done with grad school for the year and had time on my hands, so I bought the entire pay per view package (we didn't get Euros on regular TV in the US until 2008). This was pre-YouTube and there wasn't really a way to watch the games on the internet, so I made highlights packages on VHS tapes for matt j and also I think SoccerScrimmage using my TiVo recordings. It was run playing highlights director, deciding how far back to start play leading toward a goal, and also deciding to throw them off by including misses and other notable incidents. I think the highlights for the Holland-Czech Republic game ended up like 15 minutes long.

I was starting to think I had imagined this. I also may have thought you made me tapes of Euro 2000 first, cause I have no recollection of how I actually watched those games (maybe I personall plumped for the pay-per-view that year?). Summer of 2000 was kind of a weird, by 2004 things had settled down a bit. I also remember skipping my first UEFA CL final in ages the year of Liverpool-Milan and ending up having to ask for a VHS. There was a strange stretch of time where Setanta owned rights to a lot of things, so no normal broadcasts of some games/leagues.

As for the thread, I always thought it was pretty straightforward to make highlight reels, for most sports, until I watched some of NBC's highlights of the Rugby World Cup and realized they were skipping a lot of the scoring. That was pretty strange.

It's also interesting to see a lot of unofficial youtube highlights and seeing what they keep in or cut out. I find the ones (football) that basically clip down to 'ball in the opponents' defending third' absolutely unwatchable, for the most part. In this respect, the official highlights packages are vastly superior to the pirate ones.

[Incandenza]

I was starting to think I had imagined this. I also may have thought you made me tapes of Euro 2000 first, cause I have no recollection of how I actually watched those games (maybe I personall plumped for the pay-per-view that year?). Summer of 2000 was kind of a weird, by 2004 things had settled down a bit. I also remember skipping my first UEFA CL final in ages the year of Liverpool-Milan and ending up having to ask for a VHS. There was a strange stretch of time where Setanta owned rights to a lot of things, so no normal broadcasts of some games/leagues.

Yeah, the 2004 package was through Setanta, but from what I could tell they didn't actually do anything themselves except air what was being shown in the UK, because some games were BBC coverage and some were ITV. I remember there being ads for Setanta's Scottish and Portuguese packages also? I kind of miss the mid-00s soccer coverage in the US because it was before it was more popular and no streaming, so it was just on regular TV. I miss the kind of low-value Fox Sports World nightly news show and their big Friday night previews with Bobby McMahon, and the Sunday night goal extravaganza show on GolTV. Now there's the complete fragmentation and multiple streaming services that you'd have to pay for if you want to be able to watch a lot of stuff. Setting the corona pause aside, I don't know when I'll ever watch the Europa League again because I refuse to pay Turner/Bleacher Report money to only see it streaming online.